Rye Patch Nevada

Historical Record

Rye Patch Nevada — known in the original listing as “The Adventure Claim” — was a 20-acre unpatented placer claim in Pershing County, Nevada, in the world-famous Rye Patch nugget-shooting district.

Type of Claim: Unpatented Placer Claim

Size of Claim: 20 Acres

Mining Commodities: Gold, Silver

Past Production: Yes

State/County: Nevada, Pershing County

Accessibility: Good 4x4 dirt roads

Deposit Type: Quartz and tourmaline-veined Cenozoic rhyolite porphyries and breccias

Cell Phone Reception: 4G LTE, all networks

Discovery Marker (GPS, WGS84): 40.650324°, -118.397023°

The Adventure Claim was a 20-acre placer mining gold claim in the highly sought Rye Patch area, known for its large, bountiful and unique gold nuggets found with just a metal detector, a classifier, and a shovel.

Hidden under Majuba Mountain and the Antelope Range lie large quartz and tourmaline veins laden with gold and silver. A concerted effort was made to find these rich, hidden gold veins in the 1920s, and no one has found the source vein to this day — yet large gold nuggets have washed into the valley from the exposed peaks every year since. Many flocked to the base of these mountains during the Depression, and for nearly 90 years after, the tradition continued.

The local geology could be seen just by looking at the ground — quartz and tourmaline could be picked up in large chunks, with pyrite, chalcopyrite and arsenopyrite running through the minerals, excellent ground for the rare chevron gold nuggets that characterize the Rye Patch area.

The Adventure was the southernmost of three Rye Patch claims Mountain Man Mining held, straddling one of the large, old riverbeds that formed a basin flowing from the gold-laden Antelope Mountain Range before making its way East into the reservoir. The three claims lay in three well-separated areas, each targeting a separate old river flow from the mountains, all showing the same characteristics: plenty of old water flow and tons of quartz and tourmaline on the surface.

A good dirt road leading from the Rye Patch State Recreation Area, close to the Humboldt River Ranch, reached the claims in under 15 minutes (four-wheel drive recommended). Lovelock and Winnemucca were both about 30 miles from the reservoir.

Economic Profile: Surface-placer operation, inactive development status, gold/silver commodity type. Mining District: Antelope / Rye Patch.

Claim Features (Historical)

• 20 acres of unpatented placer ground in the Rye Patch nugget-shooting district
• Located in Pershing County, Nevada
• Primary commodities: Gold, Silver
• Quartz and tourmaline-veined ground — excellent for chevron gold nuggets
• Good 4x4 dirt road access, about 15 minutes from Rye Patch State Recreation Area
• Roughly 30 miles from both Lovelock and Winnemucca
• Sold through Mountain Man Mining™